INDIANAPOLIS — These Patriots looked like imposters at times during Super Bowl XLVI.

What in the name of Bill Belichick’s hoodie was going on with some of these mistakes?

Start with Golden Boy Tom Brady committing intentional grounding in the end zone at the start of the game to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. Then they made a few killer penalties that helped out the Giants and must have had half of New England spitting up their chowder. Add in the drops by receivers to end the game and three fumbles they could not come up with and it was a forgettable day for the boys in blue.

“We made more mistakes than they did regardless of the plays they made,” wide receiver Deion Branch said. “We didn’t capitalize on the opportunities they gave us. We caused a fumble, we had 12 guys on the field. They put the ball on the ground two more times and they recovered the ball, which would have been on their end of the field. Those plays don’t happen too often in a game.”

Brady’s mistake came on the Patriots first drive of the game. As Justin Tuck applied pressure in the end zone, Brady lofted a 45-yard pass to no one on their first offensive play. There was not a receiver within 20 yards of the throw and he was flagged for intentional grounding, which leads to a safety when committed in the end zone.

The next Patriots flub came just a few minutes later. The Patriots forced a fumble from Victor Cruz and Pats linebacker Brandon Spikes recovered. The play was called back, though, because New England had 12 men on the field. With a new set of downs, the Patriots scored a touchdown two plays later to take a 9-0 lead.

Those two mistakes led directly to scores. The other awful penalty the Patriots picked up did not lead to points, but it did extend a long Giants drive.

The Patriots stopped the Giants on third-and-7 when Eli Manning’s pass fell incomplete in the fourth quarter. Rob Ninkovich was flagged for being offsides, nullifying the play and giving the Gians a third-and-2 that they easily converted. The drive eventually stalled, but the Giants were able to take valuable time off the clock.

“We had the chance to put them away and we didn’t do it,” Branch said. “That third quarter was the chance to put a dagger in them and we didn’t do it.”

The Giants put the ball on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf twice more but the Giants recovered each time.

“They made a few more plays than we did,” Brady said. “They’ve done a good job of that all season. Like I said, we all wish we could have done a little bit more. Our team fought really hard. Our defense really held at certain points today. They knocked some balls out. I wish we’d have one of those. The ball didn’t really bounce our way either. They played a good game.”